In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood ''A true story of a multiple murder and its consequences'' , ( In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences ) is a book from 1966 by the American writer Truman Capote . It tells the story of the Clutter from Holcomb (Kansas) . Herbert William Clutter, a wealthy farmer and his family, consisting of his wife Bonnie, their 16-year-old daughter, Nancy, and their 15-year-old son Kenyon were brutally murdered in 1959. Capote was the quadruple murder of the track by an article in The New York Times . He decided to travel there, still writing. That the perpetrators Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith were caught, the killings in Kansas Capote traveled with his childhood friend Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird ). Together they interviewed local residents and the police. Capote and Lee were thousands of pages of notes and Capote was many years trying to write the book. First he published little additional articles in the New York Times, but in January 1966 the book was published as a whole. There were about the story theater written and the book was made into a film. The events in Capote's life around writing the book was filmed in 2005 in biopics Capote (2005) and Infamous (2006). Content [ hide ] *1 Contents *2 The Clutter family *3 The killers *4 The crime-pair *5 The lawsuit *6 Footnotes *7 See also *8 External link Contents [ edit ] ''Read Warning : The following text contains details of the content and / or the end of the story.'' Capote tells the story of two friends who together wreak carnage, something they might have. Never done alone Capote also describes the lives of the victims, and the effect that the murders had on the small rural community Holcomb. The Clutter family [ edit ] The story begins in Holcomb, a small rural village in western Kansas, the home of the Clutter family. Father Herbert was a respected and successful farmer. He was a strict Methodist , meaning that he did not drink alcohol and coffee and did not smoke. Herbert was a "self-made man." He had been employed for a while in the lobby for agriculture in the region of Kansas. His biggest dream, however, was to have a farm himself, so he gave up his job to realize this dream. Some people laughed at him, therefore, and said he would fail. In a short time, however, he stomped a good farm from the ground, and he was the second richest man in the area. There were at times 18 men in his service. Former employees praised Herbert for the proper treatment and the high wages which he gave the staff. His four children, three girls and a boy, were also popular in the countryside village. The two elders, Eveanna and Beverly, lived away from home. Eveanna was married and had a child. Beverly's marriage was planned and then finally went through earlier because of the murders. The two youngest children, Nancy (16) and Kenyon (15) were high school and still lived at home. Clutter's wife, Bonnie, was a member of the local garden club. However, she had been depressed since the birth of her children. In the early hours of Sunday, November 15, 1959 Herb, Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter were killed after they were first tied. This all happened during a robbery burglary, which however nothing was captured on some odds and ends after. The killers [ edit ] Two paroled prisoners in the State Prison of Kansas admitted that they have the murders. Richard Hickock had a fellow prisoner, Floyd Wells, who had previously worked for the Clutter family heard that Herb Clutter asafe was where he would keep (minimum $ 1,000). huge amounts of money in The tip turned out to be wrong, since Clutter had no safe, and all business conducted with checks made. He had almost no cash at home. Richard Hickock, 28 years old at the time of the murder, was a crook. He was born in June 1931. He was extremely smart, and had a good memory. Despite his stable home situation (his parents were poor, but looked good for the boy), he developed into a psychopath. His strongest points in the criminal were falsifying checks and petty theft. Hickock was also suspected of pedophilia ; he felt more than once attracted to young girls. Perry Edward Smith, 31 years old at the time of the murder, was the son of a rodeo rider. He was born on October 27, 1928, was half Cherokee and half Irish-American. Due to a motorcycle accident both his legs were severely damaged. Because of this accident, he became addicted to aspirin . Smith was, like Hickock, very smart, and Smith was blessed with a great musical and artistic talent. He moved to San Francisco with his mother when he was six years old. Perry had never been to school, something he regretted. His alcoholic mother choked on her own vomit [1] , and two of her other three children, a boy and two girls, committed suicide. Because of his poor childhood Smith, was unexpectedly burst into very great anger. As a technician in the Korean War , he was awarded the Bronze Star . He was described by his colleagues as someone who was very good at all chores and tasks. During the war he had arranged fights with others, due to his aggression problem. Smith was the antithesis of Hickock in different things. So Smith was quiet, shy and was very confused by his poor childhood. In order to mask his low self-esteem, he was very arrogant. He was placed after a robbery at the Kansas State Penitentiary. Here he befriended Hickock. Smith often wet the bed. He himself wrote the bedwetting always to the unhealthy food he received during his youth. Through the acidic food he had a weak bladder. In the orphanage where he sat for a while, he was beaten by the head nun because he always wet his bed. The crime-pair [ edit ] A large part of the book focuses on the complex psychological relationship between the two killers. Hickock was the mastermind, and let Smith do the dirty work. Hickock was in jail on the idea with the stolen money from the Clutter a new life in Mexico to begin. There was no witness. Hickock plan seemed a good plan, it would be a cinch. [2] Hickock was previously paroled from prison on condition that he went to live with his parents and wrote a letter to Smith in which he explained his plan. Smith, meanwhile, had already been released and lived in Las Vegas, so he went to the city where Hickocks parents lived. That was the place where they were meeting. There he had to stay in a hotel because Hickock's mother did not want him staying home with them. On Sunday November 15th 1959 opened the two men in the early morning a side door in the house of the family Clutter. Herb Clutter heard a noise, and went downstairs to investigate. He came to stand with the killers. Eye to eye Clutter promised that he would give them all his money, but he did not have much pocket. Hickock told Smith that he needed to tie the rest of the family and a gag in their mouths to do. Smith did this at all, except for daughter Nancy Clutter. After this, the two men were looking for money in the house. After extensive research and heated discussions Hickock and Smith came to the conclusion that Herbert Clutter really spoke the truth, there was no money in the house. Hickock had against Smith said several times that he wanted absolutely no witnesses. This Smith cut the throat of Herb Clutter. Smith then shot a bullet through the head of Herb with a shotgun . What happened after that is unclear. It is clear that first Kenyon, then Nancy and finally Bonnie were all slain by a still shot from the shotgun. Smith and Hickock both said to each other that the other person had the murders. As a result, it is not certain whether Smith actually shot. The major breakthrough in the investigation came after Floyd Wells, the former cellmate of Hickock had heard. Murders over the radio Wells was the one tip of the money in Clutter had given house and recognized the murder too. The tip of Floyd Wells led to the arrest of Hickock and Smith in Las Vegas (Nevada), about six weeks after the murders. A police officer recognized the car that Hickock and Smith drove stolen, and the duo were the Kansas Bureau of Investigation moved to Garden City (Kansas). The lawsuit [ edit ] The trial was held from March 29 1960 until March 22 in Finney County Courthouse in Garden City. The defendants were charged under sole prints that matched the prints found in the house of the Clutter. Items stolen from the home were also found in Hickock and Smith. Hickock gave the first time that he was involved in the murders. Smith confessed to the murders in the police car when he was transferred to prison. Smith and Hickock tried to defend in court insanity , but after they were examined by doctors, they were declared completely healthy. The lawyers of the two filed an appeal, because the health would not be performed by real doctors, but only by general practitioners. This appeal was rejected. Hickock also made an attempt to explain by accusing his best not enough to have done. Them his lawyer the process invalid There followed an investigation by the counter, but the lawyers were found not guilty of negligence or any other fault. So the court could not be declared invalid. However Hickock other lawyers who one after another delay maneuver performed and so then got death penalty still managed to put off. Meanwhile, Smith and Hickock were stuck in prison, in the so-called death row, where they were joined by a student that his entire family had been slaughtered and two ex-soldiers who had committed seven murders for fun. These two wanted to free people from this terrible world. After five years of waiting to have been Smith and Hickock on April 14th 1965 in the State Prison of Kansas executed by hanging. This happened just after midnight. A few hours earlier, the cook's last meal prepared entirely at the discretion of the executed. The menu consisted of shrimp, french fries, bread, and ice cream with cherries and whipped cream. Hickock, then 33 years old, was first hung to 00:41, followed by Smith, then aged 36, at 1:19 pm. Category:1966 books